A new architectural installation from MIT’s Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) for the Mextrópoli Architecture and City Festival in Mexico City is leveraging the school’s recent innovations in materials research to weave a narrative about the centuries-old capital through four materials: paper, wood, earth, and concrete.

With the help of collaborating artist Marisa Morán Jahn, faculty members Sarah Williams, Caitlin Mueller, and Rafi Segal worked to create two pavilions for the installation that is meant as an invitation to visitors to explore the city’s history and future potential under the title Sueños con Fiber/Timber, Earth/Concrete.

The first pavilion, Fiber/Timber, repurposes the city’s iconic wood Montaña Rusa rollercoaster in a form inspired by the colorful Pre-Columbian art practice called papel picado, which again offers itself as a portal to the city’s ancestral past. 

This is joined in Alameda Square by Earth/Concrete, whose focus is on future affordable housing developments in Mexico City. Viguetas, a form of precast concrete beam, join together with rammed earth Ecoblocks and 3D printed clay block formwork to outline the potential to minimize materials impact on existing construction methods in partnership with New Story and Échale, two housing advocacies whose work surrounds the connected issues of homelessness and community justice.

Mueller said its aim is to “apply innovation and research to a problem that is not well studied in structural design. The result is a construction system and methodology that is scalable and applicable for many different contexts and communities.”

Overall, the installation works to “elevate the conversation about sustainable technology and equity.” Its broader implications for the built environment and urbanism are the takeaways. As Jahn explains: 

“As a society, it’s imperative that we look to the past to inform how we imagine the future. Art, architecture, and cultural traditions both contain and span millennia, enabling us to understand our world in a broader sense. The opportunity to collaborate with artisans, designers, engineers, architects, and community groups in Mexico around pressing issues is absolutely reinvigorating. It introduces new ways of working and sharing resources that transform what’s possible.” 

Manufactura, Anfora Studio, and Formas de Fibra de Vidrio were additional collaborators and Grupo Mota-Engil México a partner on the project.

The installation will remain on view until Sunday, October 2nd. 

PROJECT TEAM:

Sueños con Fiber/Timber: Maria Rius Ruiz, Patricia Dueñas Gerritsen, Peteiarte artisans from San Pablito, Jungmin Lee, Karla Mejias

Sueños con Earth/Concrete: Edu Gascón, Tim Cousin, Mohamed Ismail, Sandy Curth, Kiley Feickert, Leslie Norford

Sueños con…: Alberto Meouchi, Jariyaporn Prachasartta, Doris Qingyi Duanmu, Niko McGlashan, Deni López, Illana Strauss, Enrique Casillas